


Bathed in sun drops

by Granateplekjekk



Category: Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Genre: Can be interpreted a major character death, Gen, John Steinbeck, One Shot, classical literature
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-19 23:35:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3628440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Granateplekjekk/pseuds/Granateplekjekk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a good day. The sun was shining through the leaves of the trees, and the rushing of the river created a soothing background noise. Lennie closed his eyes and leaned his head back simply enjoying the sensation of the sunbeams caressing his face. He gripped the rocky shore tight and breathed in deeply; the smell of spring heavy in the air. In that moment nothing had ever felt better than slipping his bare feet into the cool stream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bathed in sun drops

It was a good day. The sun was shining through the leaves of the trees, and the rushing of the river created a soothing background noise. Lennie closed his eyes and leaned his head back simply enjoying the sensation of the sunbeams caressing his face. He gripped the rocky shore tight and breathed in deeply; the smell of spring heavy in the air. In that moment nothing had ever felt better than slipping his bare feet into the stream; not even stroking the soft fur of the mouse Auntie had given him this morning.  
It was rare for a day like this where Auntie wouldn’t make him do chores- George wasn’t here to tell him stories either. Lennie wasn’t really allowed to play with George since George always asked him to do scary things. Auntie said they didn’t afford no doctor if Lennie got seriously injured. Lennie liked George though. He even liked him when he wasn’t nice. The bruises hurt, but George always told him stories when Auntie had patched him up. George never made him feel freaky either so Lennie made extra sure to always listen to what George told him to do even if Auntie yelled at him when he came home with a chipped tooth or a black eye.  
It was a waste that George wasn’t with him on such a nice day. Lennie was sure the smooth tones of George’s story-telling voice would sound twice as soothing as the river and trice as soothing combined with it.  
He could hear a group of people approaching in the distance. Auntie always told him to keep away from them “normal” folks because they could hurt him, but the cool of the river and the warmth of the sun was too appealing to even consider moving away from it.  
The sounds of shoes meeting rocks had come considerably closer, but stopped suddenly. Lennie opened his eyes lazily. The first thing he saw was of course the river which was an extraordinarily pretty shade of green that day with the sunbeams reflecting off the surface. He turned his head. A group of young men (though older than him) carrying fishing poles had settled down some thirty feet upriver from him. Lennie thought he recognized them from the next farm over, but Lennie could never really tell people properly apart by their faces. He preferred to look at other things that made people special; like how Auntie always tied her hair up in a strict looking bun or how George always rolled up the sleeves of his checkered shirt; even when it was raining.  
The men were laughing now and seemed to be drinking the clear liquid that George once told him was called moonshine when Lennie had mistakenly thought the water from the well was poisoned when the stable boys started acting weird around Christmas, but they didn’t seem to catch many fish.  
Lenny felt odd as he stared at them. They looked like they were having much fun messing around, splashing water at each other, and yelling at whoever soaked them to “stop scaring the fish godammit!”  
It was funny how he felt so content and happy when he was by himself only missing the company of George when in comparison he felt so utterly lonely in the presence of other men. He envied how easily they interacted with each other and how even though they rough housed and teased one another it was all in such a playful manner and never in that mean way Lennie often had to endure from his peers. He wanted this. He wanted this with Georg; he wanted to fish with George and see the sun shine on George’s face as he smiled and told Lennie a story. He desperately wanted George’s words to be fond and teasing when he called Lennie dumb instead of that belittling tone that made him feel so awful. He wanted to spend today with George.  
The men were yelling at him to come and join them now. He wanted to try fishing. Auntie would be proud of him if he brought home dinner and George would be impressed too. Maybe he could even have a bit of fun with the group of men too. He sat up and started walking only remembering his shoes when he stepped on a sharp rock. The men greeted him enthusiastically before shoving a fishing pole into his hands while its previous user sat down to drink.  
A while later he was glowing with happiness; still sitting surrounded by others who didn’t seem to mind that he was slow as the moonshine had made them dumb too. They even praised him as a genius after he had caught his second fish (his second!). He was so caught up in having so much fun that he almost didn’t notice when George came walking towards them. George had obviously been working all day and had probably come down to the river to wash off all the grime and sweat that came with being a farm boy.  
George got a mean look in his eye when he spotted Lennie amongst the older men, and before Lennie could even open his mouth to tell George about his two fishes George yelled “Jump in!”  
Lennie always listened to what George said, and in that moment Lennie forgot all the times his aunt had told him never enter to try to enter the river where it wasn’t shallow.  
Now he couldn’t feel anything but the sensation of river water swirling around his body; nor could he hear anything but the streaming of the river.  
Struggling didn’t help  
It was getting harder to hold his breath now. Lennie’s vision was dimming. It was sad that he couldn’t see as much of the pretty green.  
Just as his consciousness seemed to be fading he felt a hand grab onto his. and the last thing he saw was George bathed in the golden sun drops shining through the surface-  
-and Lennie was happy.

**Author's Note:**

> This was just my English homework. I haven't actually written any stories since I was 13. English isn't my first language so please don't lynch me.


End file.
